A linear cutter is a surgical tool that staples and cuts tissue, such as gastrointestinal tissue, to transect that tissue while leaving the cut ends hemostatic. A typical linear cutter holds a disposable single-use cartridge with several rows of staples, and includes an anvil opposed to the cartridge. The surgeon inserts the linear cutter through an opening in the body, orients the end of the linear cutter around the tissue to be transected, and compresses the anvil and cartridge together to clamp that tissue. Then, a row or rows of staples are deployed on either side of the transection line, and a blade is advanced along the transection line to divide the tissue.
During actuation of a linear cutter, the cartridge fires all of the staples that it holds. In order to deploy more staples, the linear cutter must be moved away from the surgical site and removed from the patient, after which the old cartridge is exchanged for a new cartridge. The linear cutter is then reinserted into the patient. The process of removing the endocutter from the patient after each use, replacing the cartridge, and then finding the surgical site again is tedious, inconvenient and time-consuming, particularly where a surgical procedure requires multiple uses of the linear cutter. Similar inconveniences may accompany the use of surgical staplers other than linear cutters.
The use of the same reference symbols in different figures indicates similar or identical items.